University of Manchester event, 16 October

At the University of Manchester, we are bringing together a panel of practitioners, academics and experts by experience to raise awareness of immigration detention and look at what we can do on and off campus to take action.

“Together we can bring the walls down!”

Earlier this month These Walls Must Fall campaigners spoke with members of the public at Manchester’s Partisan Collective community day. There was great back and forth with the audience, and lots of people signed up to support the campaign. Below is the text of the speech from one of the campaigners. These Walls Must Fall is a campaign against immigration detention in Britain – the walls are the walls of detention centres. Anybody who doesn’t… Read more »

Manchester lawyer, Laura, on detention visiting and the campaign to end detention

Laura Gibbons works at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit. She is also a volunteer visitor at the immigration detention centre in Manchester, a facility not many locals know about. Laura writes this week on the Right to Remain blog about detention, volunteering and These Walls Must Fall.

Two These Walls Must Fall events in Manchester for Refugee Week

Last night saw two great #TheseWallsMustFall events in Manchester for Refugee Week. People engaged in a performance protest raising awareness about detention at HOME, with the help of Virtual Migrants. It highlighted the injustice of immigration detention and was a tribute to the 120 women on hunger strike during March this year. Now @HOME_mcr with @VirtualMigrants @wallsmustfall. Hostile Detainment performance protest raising awareness about detention in the UK. #RefugeeWeek2018 #TheseWallsMustFall pic.twitter.com/dGg5IuplDq — Community Arts NW… Read more »

Manchester action

Back where it all began… In November 2016, These Walls Must Fall hosted their first open meetings at Cross Street Chapel, to discuss, plan and start building a new kind of local campaign against detention in Greater Manchester. This was just over a year ago, and under the shadow of the detention local activist Dianne Ngoza*, people discussed the open-source, decentralised, non-directive approach of the campaign, and explored what the challenges and opportunities might be… Read more »

This Council believes …. These Walls Must Fall!

Yesterday, Manchester City Council become the first local authority in Britain to pass a motion condemning immigration detention. You can read the motion here. The motion, proposed by Councillor Mahadi Sharif, was passed unanimously by the council. Here’s how it happened: Councillor @kelly4labour seconding the #TheseWallsMustFall motion at #Manchester council. We must send a message to the government: "enough is enough!" #unlocked17 — Right to Remain (@Right_to_Remain) November 29, 2017 Final #mcc business is @MahdiTaarwale, who… Read more »

“When you see injustice – speak out!”: These Walls Must Fall in Manchester

Last Thursday human rights campaigners, union members, migrant rights groups, political representatives and other members of the public met in Manchester to campaign against immigration detention. Setting up for the big event at the historic Mechanics Institute. Follow us, @wallsmustfall and #TheseWallsMustFall for updates! pic.twitter.com/EAcln0LgrG — Right to Remain (@Right_to_Remain) November 2, 2017 Gathering at Manchester’s historic Mechanics Institute, at a campaign launch meeting organised with Uniet the Union Greater Manchester Social Action Branch, over… Read more »

A polite revolution

What makes people start caring about an issue? And what makes people go beyond just caring to doing something about it? These were some of the questions considered during a These Walls Must Fall workshop in Manchester this week, with campaigners from asylum-seeking and other migrant backgrounds. How many people would date their political awakening to being handed a flyer, or asked to sign a petition, or reading a policy report? In all honesty, very… Read more »